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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – Before 9 o'clock
in the morning, Marines gathered around two things that have
been cornerstones in the U.S. Marine Corps: a bar and a
hero.
This beautiful morning was not about Tun
Tavern, ‘Chesty' Puller, or war heroes of old. Instead, the
Marines excitedly gathered around a man who is their peer,
their age, and for many of them, the embodiment of their
values as warriors: Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Dakota
Meyer.
Marines with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, pose with Sgt. Dakota Meyer, Medal of Honor recipient, at Range 218, Sept. 27,
2011. Meyer visited with Marines from multiple units across Camp Pendleton in his final tour before returning home.
Photo by USMC Cpl. Ned Johnson
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Meyer, who recently appeared on "Late Show with
David Letterman," threw out multiple ‘first pitches' at
baseball games, and visited the 9/11 memorial, made one
final trip before deciding to head back to his home in
Kentucky.
“All this media is starting to get to me,”
Meyer said. “I told them that I want to go talk to as many
Marines as possible. The Marines understand what I have
done.”
Meyer was shuffled from location to location
Sept. 27, meeting Marines of the 1st Marine Division,
shaking hands and posing for photographs. In similar fashion
to his other visits, everyone wanted to meet America's
newest Medal of Honor recipient, but for Meyer this day was
different.
“If I could meet 15 to 30 Marines a day
for the next two or three years, I would,” Meyer said.
“That's what it's all about for me.”
The Marines had
questions for Meyer regarding his military occupational
specialty and his conversations with the President, but
Meyer had a few things for the Marines as well.
“This
medal is as much yours as it is mine,” Meyer said. “I just
did what any Marine would have done in my circumstances. I
wear it, but the medal belongs to the Marines everywhere
because there are millions of stories just like mine.”
As the day wore on, more and more Marines recognized the
Corps' newest hero, but Meyer maintained the day was not
about him.
“Sometimes things get hard and I don't
want to go on,” Meyer said. “But I have four friends who
don't have an opportunity to push on with their lives. So
every day I push on for them because I owe them that.”
Meyer's trip took him to a range with the Marines of 1st
Reconnaissance Battalion, where Meyer showed off his sniper
skills and fired a few rounds downrange. He then gave the
Marines advice before their next deployment.
“You
should always be sharing your knowledge and learning
everything you can,” Meyer said. “I never thought that in
one day I would kill someone with an M-4, .50-caliber
machine gun, an MK19 grenade launcher, a squad automatic
weapon, an AK-47, and a rocket-propelled grenade, but it can
happen to you like it did to me.”
Before parting each
group of Marines, the Medal of Honor recipient had one final
thought he wanted to pass to his comrades.
“I did
what I did that day because I believed in what I was doing.
I believed in ‘Leave no man behind,'” Meyer said. “You have
to believe in being a U.S. Marine. Believe in honor, courage
and commitment. Believe that you are doing what is right for
America.”
More associated images in frame below
By USMC Cpl. Ned Johnson
1st Marine Division
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2011
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